Mastercard and money transfer service Paysend have announced the expansion of their partnership to improve cross-border payments for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Although the digital payments industry is growing rapidly, around 65% of SMEs make cross-border payments via mobile apps, which cannot guarantee clarity of execution and transparency. Meanwhile, 39% of SMEs believe that such cross-border payments have a negative impact on their delivery times, and 25% said that suppliers have refused to work with them due to uncertainty over payment times, according to IBS Intelligence.
Mastercard and Paysend have therefore launched a joint solution, the Open Payment Network, which coordinates end-to-end payment flows, from initiation to settlement, and enables near real-time payments through connections to local network partners and instant payment schemes. "We are excited to deepen our collaboration with Paysend to empower small and medium businesses to pay and get paid promptly. At Mastercard, we are committed to helping SMEs grow and thrive in the digital economy," said Mark Barnett, President of Mastercard Europe.
"With a shared vision of delivering innovative financial products and solutions to our customers, Mastercard has become a key partner in our journey to improve the efficiency of the financial system and ensure the security, speed, and convenience of cross-border payments," said Abdul Abdulkerimov, Co-Founder and Chairman of Paysend, commenting on the expansion of the partnership.
Paysend has also joined Mastercard Send, a partnership program that helps fintech companies, acquirers, and platforms offer near-real-time digital payments to their clients.
Read also: PayPal has launched Off Ramps, a new service for Web3 payments.
